FDDI Fiber Distributed Data Interface

FDDI Basics
Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) high-speed LAN which uses fiber optics, dual ring topology and the token passing access method. FDDI is frequently used as a backbone technology and to connect high-speed computers in a LAN.

FDDI Basics

FDDI Basics
FDDI has four specifications: 1. Media Access Control - defines how the medium is accessed 2. Physical Layer Protocoldefines data encoding/decoding procedures 3. Physical Layer Mediumdefines the characteristics of the transmission medium 4. Station Managementdefines the FDDI station configuration

Physical properties
Diff. betn. FDDI & 802.5

This runs on fiber, not copper. It has dual ring. The 2 independent ring send the data in opposite directions. The second ring is not used during normal operation but instead comes into play only if the primary ring fails. FDDI network is able to tolerate a single break in the cable or the failure of one station.

Dual-fiber ring: (a) normal operation; (b) failure of the primary ring.

Physical properties
Diff. betn. FDDI & 802.5

Instead of designating one node as a monitor, all the nodes participate equally in maintaining the FDDI ring. FDDI uses 4B/5B encoding instead of Manchester, it uses 4B/5B control symbols rather than illegal Manchester symbols in the start- and end-of-frame markers. FDDI allows nodes to attach to the network by means of a single cable. Such nodes are called single attachment stations (SAS); their dual-connected counterparts are called, not surprisingly, dual attachment stations (DAS). A concentrator is used to attach several SASs to the dual ring.